Little Wonders
by Kifo Entiegon
Summary: Ever wondered what Percy did for his first official Valentine's Day as Annabeth's boyfriend even though Hera made him sleep through it? Or how Connor seems to be the one who managed to get Katie and Travis together? Well... Just a series of one-shots on some of my favourite, and series proposed, couples. Also friendship/sibling. Thought I'd try something different. T-safety. Hiatus
1. Percabeth: Little Wonders

**Hey, guys. I've desided to try something knew. I guess you could call this a whole bunch of one-shot love scenes, but I'm not sure. Okay, after checking up on my notes, I'd say they are. Now, you may see some OCxOC, but the majority will be couples we all know like the famous Percabeth, the equally famous amongst fanfictioners, Tratie. others include Gruniper, Jasper, Jayna, Leyna, Thuke, Frazel, Beckelena, Chris x Clarisse, Will x Nyssa, Gwen x Dakota, and Poseidon x Sally Jackson. **

**I will take requests.**

**And I do not own anything that matches something from PJO, HOO and Rick Riordan.**

**The first one is on Percabeth**

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_**Little Wonders**_

When Annabeth, the kid from the video scroll (Leo he said his name was), some girl that could only have been the voice called Piper and a blonde boy wearing a toga and a purple cloak that, judging by the Romans reactions, was obviously Jason Grace climbed down the ladder that led up to the Greek warship, things didn't go exactly as planned.

Okay, yes, the Romans were a little shocked at seeing their missing praetor and yes everyone was suspicious of everyone else. That was to be expected. But the tension was so thick you could cut it with a butcher's knife. Octavian looked murderous. And Terminus was keeping a _very_ close watch on them despite what had gone down on the ship. Next to that Jason obviously didn't like the idea of Percy taking his place as Praetor.

It was a rocky start, you have to admit, but after a lot of talk and explaining, the Greek representatives were finally believed. And when Percy looked into Annabeth's grey eyes, and she into his, Percy suddenly remembered the gift that he had brought for her. He was going to give it to her as their first Valentine's Day gift but current events (a.k.a. Hera/Juno) prevented that from happening as planned.

As soon as all the formal stuff was finished with, Percy instantly wrote his mother a letter. It took him a while, but he got there in the end. He told her what had happened to him and why and he asked her to give Mrs O'Leary that jeweller's box he had in the top draw of his desk. Then, with an 'I love you', he put his note in a hellhound slobber-proof container and sent his hellhound on a delivery service.

That had all been during the morning and the good part of the afternoon. It was now late afternoon and there was still no sign of Mrs O'Leary. Percy was taking a quiet stroll with Annabeth as the sun began to set. And the only thing on his mind was 'where was Mrs O'Leary with that gift'?

" I know it's nothing like Camp Half-Blood, but this place does have its own ups and downs." Annabeth was saying, bringing Percy out of his thoughts. " Okay, if you see past the fact that it's basically a military camp for demigods."

" You're right. But things will turn out in the end. You'll see." He replied with a small smile.

" I guess."

Silence passed between the two as the sun's dying rays turned the hills surrounding Camp Jupiter to gold. The scene was breath-taking. And they just so happened to be sitting in one of the best spots for such a natural performance. So they were able to see how the trees gained their golden shadows and the shadow birds flew into them to settle themselves for the night. The crickets were beginning to chirp but their song was lost amongst the call of the restless birds up in the trees. And still there was no sign of Mrs O'Leary.

The scenery was so peaceful that all thought of the impending doom and missing son of Hades was driven from their minds. It was one of those moments that the both of them would cherish forever. Even if there was a truck sized shadow hound trotting tiredly towards them and otherwise scaring the still tense Romans into thinking it was an enemy. Thankfully the collar around its neck made them stop and think.

Quietly, and completely unaware of Mrs O'Leary making her way over to them, Annabeth laid her head on Percy's shoulder, enjoying the peace before it was destroyed again. It was like something in the back of her head had said 'enjoy it while you still can'. The thought honestly scared her, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. But a swift yet gentle peck on her forehead from Percy instantly blanked her mind for her.

She must have been tensing up slightly, too, because he whispered " Don't worry, Wise Girl. We'll make it through this. If we can defeat Kronos, I'm sure we can put Gaea back to sleep. Besides, we have the guy who took down Mt Othrys with us… even if he does hate my guts at the moment."

Annabeth said nothing. She knew he was right. They'll get through this. And they'll close Death's doors while they were at it. But at that moment, she just seemed content in watching as the first stars shone above the couple looking up at them from the earth. However, only the large shape of Mrs O'Leary could break the spell the scenery seemed to hold over them.

" ROOF!" the hellhound barked, clearly tired, as she dropped a rectangular box on Percy's lap.

" Mrs O'Leary! Good. Thanks girl. You deserve a rest. Go on girl." Percy replied, picking up the box and failing at cleaning it.

" Roof." Mrs O'Leary replied, wagging her tail slightly before laying down where she was and falling asleep.

" You could have gone to the stables, but there is good."

Percy recognised the box, despite the amount of hellhound slobber covering it. It was the container that he had sent the letter to his mother in. Carefully he opened the box and found a rectangular jeweller's box. It was a soft crimson brown colour with silver borders and a white band that separated the lid from the rest of the box. There was also a silver ribbon tied around it, ending in a bow. And thankfully the container had done its job. With a sheepish smile but soft eyes, he handed the rectangular box to Annabeth.

" Percy?" She asked, seeking an explanation on the gift.

" I was planning on giving this to you before… all this, kind of happened." Percy replied, indicating the switch between himself and Jason Grace by Hera.

Cautiously, Annabeth untied the ribbon and opened the box. Resting inside it, on a bed of felt, was a silver necklace. But it was the pendant which caught her breath. A small silver owl with diamond studs for eyes glistened up at her. And with the dying light of the sun, it looked like the owl was actually winking at her. At the very sight of it, all of Annabeth's worries seemed to fade and she looked up at Percy.

" Happy belated Valentine's Day, Wise Girl." He whispered, taking the necklace from the box and latching it around her neck for her.

He made sure to peck her forehead as he sat back, a smile on his face. His reply came in the form of a long awaited kiss on the lips by his speechless girlfriend. They were like that for nearly a minute, only breaking apart to breathe. And that was when Annabeth took her chance to admire everything about that night.

" Happy belated Valentine's Day, Seaweed Brain." She whispered back before resuming her moment of peace.

And all around them, the birds settled down for the night. The crickets chirped lazily up to the glistening stars as Zoe Nightshade, the huntress, smiled down on her friends' happiness. Mrs O'Leary was off in hellhound dreamland, probably dreaming about deserted pizza parlours and hotdog stands with the way she kept licking her lips. The final rays of the sun danced across the hills. And nothing, at that moment in time, could even care about the fight with Gaea's army that was really only just around the corner.

'_Time falls away,  
But these small hours,  
These little wonders still remain'_

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**So what did you think? I tried to get everyone in character, so hope I did okay. If not, I'm sorry. I tried to do a sneak peak at what I think will be in Mark Of Athena from what I've seen on the UK/Australian and US covers of MOA with Jason and Percy fighting. But hopefully this makes up for the Valentine's Day that Percy lost because he was in a coma-like state thanks to Hera.**

**Scene inspired by the song 'Little Wonders' by Rob Thomas, hence the lyrics at the end.**

**Again, I own nothing of PJO or HOO.**

**Hope you enjoyed. Next will be Tratie. Please R&R.**


	2. Tratie: Kiss From A Rose

**Finally finished my first ever Tratie. And it's long. Hope you like it anyway. Please R&R.**

**Again, I do not known anthing thing to do with PJO, HOO or Rick Riordan. I only own Tyler, Griffin and Ryan**

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**_Kiss From A Rose_**

Ever since Katie Gardner had come to camp, Travis had known that something was different about her. He didn't know what, but he knew that something was different about her. The way her dark brown hair sat perfectly around her face and over her shoulder until it stopped in the middle of her back. The way her deep brown eyes shone, especially when she was in the sun or out in the strawberry fields. The scared look on her face when he first saw her that made him want to hold her and reassure her that everything was going to be okay. He just knew.

She was his brother's age when he first saw her; ten. But he and Connor had been at camp for at least two years before she showed up. So, really, that made them her seniors. By two years, but still. Travis especially because he was a year older than her. And he and Connor knew who their father was, whereas she was still undetermined. Meaning that she was placed in the Hermes cabin until her godly parent claimed her.

Two weeks. That's how long it took. Two weeks for Demeter to claim her… and for the fun to really begin.

At first they were small, friendly almost. Like drawing on her face while she was asleep; switching the label of her shampoo with a bottle of mayonnaise; hiding her gardening tools in plain sight so she thought she had just misplaced them. Yeah, she was a little annoyed with them. But they were just small pranks. And he couldn't understand why he liked to choose the Demeter cabin a lot more now that she was there.

Then he found out that she was only a summer camper. He couldn't understand it, but he felt upset about the fact that she was going to be leaving. The shine in his eyes dimmed at the news. So what did he do… or rather Connor do? They pranked the Apollo and Aphrodite cabins.

Later, on the second last day of camp for the summer campers, Travis heard a small laugh like tinkling wind chimes in a soft breeze. When he turned around, he found Katie laughing as she watched the Aphrodite campers fighting each other and the Apollo campers trying to figure out what was wrong with their arrows. That was when he decided that her difference from the other campers was a good difference. Who knew rubber arrows and golden mangoes could accomplish so much in one day?

Then, she was gone for the rest of the year. Travis found that not a day went by when something didn't remind him about her. And he eventually found himself working on pranks to get her to laugh again, saving them for when she was back in the Demeter cabin when summer came around again. But no matter what he did, for some reason his world seemed to have dulled slightly without her there.

It was like that for three years. Travis Stoll had managed to hide his crush on Katie Gardner for three years. But then Connor started to notice how his brother was acting whenever Katie was around and whenever she wasn't. He began teasing and pranking his own brother more often. And Travis didn't know any other way to stop him but to fight back. Pretty soon Prank Wars had erupted everywhere the other campers looked. Nowhere was safe. And, when summer came along, Katie usually got it from both of them.

Finally the Prank Wars stopped when Travis was witness to a particularly nasty prank on Katie by Connor. That beautiful long hair of hers had been roughly cut to the top of her shoulders not to mention it had been dyed Aphrodite pink. And the blue flower hair clips that her father had given to her as a birthday present one year were now just clips. The flowers had been ripped off, leaving the poor girl in tears at the sight of them.

That was not how Travis liked to see her. In fact, he turned on his heels and marched down to the forest edge where he knew Connor was hiding. His face had hardened at the sight of the girl he had a crush on brought to tears by his brother's cruel joke and, to be honest, he looked downright scary when he was angry. And that was saying something considering the Stolls very rarely got angry.

" Connor!" He called once he got to the trees.

Connor never realised that his brother would be this angry with him. As soon as he had walked out from behind a particularly large tree, his brother decked him. Yeah, he was shocked at the attack. But at least he knew one thing, now. If Travis was this angry over what had happened to Katie Gardner, then he must really like her.

" Why would you do something like that?"

" This is a prank war. Nobody gets spared." Connor replied, rubbing his jaw where his brother had hit him.

After a few more words, Travis walked off. Word of what had happened spread quickly enough and almost everyone realised what that meant. The Prank War was off. And, two days later after dinner, Katie had found a little package sitting on her pillow. Inside the package was a pair of hair clips with silver flowers and a note in Ancient Greek.

'_I know they're not the ones your dad gave you, _

_but I hope you like them anyway.'_

Katie smiled, realising that she had a secret admirer somewhere in camp. But she had no idea who. And the fact that this person hadn't even left some form of sign off told her that finding them was going to be difficult. She didn't realise that all she had to do was look out her window to see Travis Stoll sitting on his cabin stairs watching her smile at the hair clips that he had bought for her, strangely proud that he hadn't stolen them for once.

But things began to change when Travis and Connor became the new cabin leaders of the Hermes cabin. The summer after the big Prank War between the Stoll brothers, Travis barely left his cabin. He only left if it was absolutely necessary. For four years, now, he had had a crush on Katie Gardner. And already his heart felt like it was being torn in two. It was worse than having to deal with Tantalus.

She had become the new cabin leader for the Demeter cabin after the old one was forced to move to South America. There was no choice for either of them. The old counsellor wasn't allowed to stay at camp full-time and Katie was the oldest in the cabin with the most beads. Not to mention she had been sent on a quest with some guy from the Apollo cabin about a week after last year's Fourth of July celebrations.

And that was where his troubles started.

He didn't realise what was going on until after Clarisse had left to go on her quest. He had been sneaking around with the supplies for his next 'secret' prank when he saw them. They were sitting on the beach, talking. It was Katie Gardner with the Apollo guy from that quest they had gone on together. At first he didn't realise it was her… until he heard her laugh. Seeing them together broke him.

With a heavy sigh, Travis had to remove himself from the scene. How he managed to get back to the Hermes cabin, he did not know. All he knew was that once he got there, he dumped the supplies onto Connor's bunk, climbed up to his own bunk and refused to get down. The wrenching of his heart made his eyes sting and his blood boil at the burning memories. He never noticed when Connor waltzed in, excited about the prank.

" Alright! You got the stuff! Now, let's go put Operation Baby Boom into…" Connor started, before noticing his brother not acting like his brother.

" I'm pulling out for this one, Connor." Travis muttered dejectedly.

" What? You can't!"

" I'm not in the mood."

" Not in the…! This is so not like you, Travis."

" Leave me alone, Connor."

" No! I'm not going to take orders from a guy who is clearly not my brother. I'm going to find out where my brother really is."

Travis turned on his side to face the wall of the cabin. Not even a minute later, he heard his brother leave, slamming the cabin door behind him.

Over the next couple of weeks, Travis found his brother going around and otherwise spying on Katie and, more importantly, the guy from Apollo. For some reason, though, Connor wouldn't let him in what was going on. He only said one thing when Travis asked him. It turned out the guy's name was Tyler. The Aphrodite campers were going insane over the whole triangle thing between their dream 'Tratie' and dream 'Kaler' and it was driving _him_ insane. But what scared him most was when he saw Connor sneaking over to the Aphrodite cabin one day and overheard him talking about love letters and other love stuff.

But Connor's plans didn't go into action until after the summer was over and Katie had gone home. Travis found Connor writing love letters to Katie, which angered him for some reason. And then, when mail came for the all-rounders, he found his brother writing love letters to Tyler. That deeply disturbed him.

He was about to ask what was going on after the fifth letter arrived for Tyler one morning at breakfast when one of his younger brothers, Griffin Lowe, suddenly asked one of the most disturbing questions no eleven year old should ask. Needless to say, the entire Hermes table became the centre of attention as Travis yelled out in disgust. Griffin, who had been sitting across from Connor, then reached over the table and high-fived the younger Stoll as well as his best friend/brother, Ryan. That was when Travis discovered that, not only was the Aphrodite Cabin involved in this, but so was the rest of the Hermes Cabin.

After that, and for the rest of the day, whenever Travis went to ask his brother what he was doing with someone else's love letters one of a series of events happened. First he would hear Griffin's voice in his head repeating the question from breakfast. If he managed to get past that, he was doing well. If not, he paid a visit to the bathroom. After that he would either see Connor with Griffin and the memory would return, he would see Ryan with Connor and the memory would return, Connor somehow avoided the question, a Hermes camper would drag him away and distract him somehow… or an Aphrodite camper would drag him into their cabin to give him a 'talking to'.

In other words, it was horrible and he never did get to even ask the question.

Finally summer came around. And with it came Katie. When Travis first saw her, he made a mental note not to cross her path for the rest of the day. She didn't look too happy. Apparently, according to one of her sisters he overheard talking to her Athenian friend as he walked past, she had received some nasty letters from Tyler over the summer. Only one person came to mind. His brother. Connor Stoll.

" What have you been doing Connor?" Travis called out when he saw his brother walk out of the Hermes Cabin after he had heard this.

He didn't find the chance. He made it. Right in front of Tyler and Katie, too.

No one was happy after that. Katie stopped talking to all three boys, which completely ruined Travis. He began taking desperate measures. He returned to pranking. At first, she didn't take notice. Then came the chocolate Easter bunnies. No one knew how he managed to get Easter Bunnies at that time of year, but the roof of the Demeter cabin was littered with them. It may not have had the same effect that Travis had hoped, but at least it proved that he and Katie were now back on some kind of verbal communication basis. Even if it was yelling.

But things began to get rough as the fight against Kronos drew closer. And when finally it did come, Katie was struck hard. Travis had been there when she was overwhelmed with monsters. He had gone to her aid and managed to get her back to Olympus to get the wound in her side healed up. That was when they found that Tyler had been killed. Then came the news of Silena. That news had been too much for Katie and he pulled her into him where she cried her heart out. He only left her again when Connor pulled him away to help defend the Empire State Building again.

" We're in the middle of a world threatening battle and I can't believe I'm thinking about that. What is wrong with me?" Travis muttered half an hour after Percy had gone up to Olympus.

" I don't know. What is wrong with you?" Connor asked.

" You're my brother. That's what's wrong with me."

" Hey!"

" It's true."

" Okay, now. Tell Conny what's wrong." Connor said in concerned parent/doctor voice.

" Aside from the fact that my brother's demented?" Travis asked, looking at his brother like he was some sort of alien.

" Yes, aside from the fact that your brother's demented."

" Okay, well… I might as well say it now before I die."

" You're not going to die. You are going to live so you can prank another day." Connor interrupted.

" I'm trying to tell you something here." Travis sighed.

" Sorry."

" Anyway. I've had a crush on Katie Gardner for eight years."

" Wow. That's a long time to be crushing on someone."

" And I might never get to tell her that I love her."

Connor looked over his brother's shoulder and that familiar mischievous gleam returned to his eyes. Travis, however didn't see it. He was too busy looking out the doors and judging the best ways to stay alive. But he was forced to look back at his brother when he felt a hand on his shoulder. The look on the younger Stoll's face was not like him at all. But it seemed to say everything.

" She knows." Was all that was said before Connor rushed out into the fray.

It wasn't until that year's summer camp was nearly over that Travis finally understood what his brother had meant. Of all the pranking that he and Connor had done on the Demeter cabin, the one prank that won him Katie's heart was one that Connor alone had pulled.

Both Travis and Katie had received letters saying to go to the Big House basement. Why? Neither of them knew. But they went…and were locked in. The only way to get out (according to the note that was locked in with them) was to confess their love to each other in the face. And when Travis looked at Katie, he noticed that she was wearing the silver flower hair clips that he had bought for her four years ago.

" I see you're wearing those hair clips. They suit you, you know Katie-Kat." He said, a grin on his face, as he leaned against the wall.

" Thank you." Katie replied slowly, not trusting the older Stoll.

" I'm sorry for what my brother did that day."

" Tha-wait, what?"

" It was part of that Prank War we had. But I pulled out when he did that to you. After I gave him what for, though."

" What are you saying, Travis."

" I'd never hurt you. Not like that. Not in any way. I could never see you hurt. You mean too much for me to do something like that."

" Travis…why?"

" Isn't it obvious? I love you. I always have. Ever since I first met you."

" You always will, won't you."

" I suppose so."

" The bunnies?"

" You missed out on Easter, so I brought Easter to you."

" Travis Stoll, I did not miss out on Easter!"

" But you liked it right?" Travis asked, standing straight and taking a step towards Katie.

" How many times do I have to tell you, you do not go decorating the Demeter cabin roof with chocolate?"

" So does that mean you liked it?"

" Aahhggg…"

" Well?"

" …Yes. I thought… it was cute."

" It's taken you three years to admit that, you know."

" You… you goof. I wouldn't like the pranks if I didn't like the prankster." A blush crept on Katie's face as she spoke.

" What?" This time is was Travis's turn to be confused.

For an answer, Katie closed the distance between her and Travis. Too stunned to move, Travis could only watch as she reached up to him. Only when her lips smacked against his did he realise what his answer was. But it was as he was only just beginning to enjoy it that she pulled away from him.

" Is that answer enough for you?" Katie asked.

It took Travis a minute to try and recollect himself from cloud nine before he answered. " Yeah."

" Good. I need to get ready for the trip home tomorrow."

And with that, Katie turned on her heals and walked out of the Big House. Connor hadn't really locked the door like the two thought. But it didn't really matter because Travis was still somewhere up on cloud nine. That was as near as he was going to get to asking her to be his girlfriend. And, considering who he was, as near as a yes as he was going to get.

It took him another fifteen minutes just to get out of the basement. When he finally got back the cabins area, he was greeted by everyone. And in the lead was a surprised looking Katie Gardner and a smiling Connor Stoll. The Aphrodite cabin was going crazy over 'Tratie' to which Katie finally got annoyed and yelled at them for. And there were mutters of 'Took them long enough' going around too.

" Well?" Connor asked him when he was close enough. " Have I found my brother yet?"

" Yeah." Travis replied, still a little bit hyper from his first kiss.

" And where was he?"

" Receiving a kiss from a rose."

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**Well, folks. There you have it. Tratie. It may be a little OOC, but I did try my best to make this short but long enough to get eight years of hidden love. Please don't hate it... or me. **

**Scene inspired by the song 'Kiss From A Rose' by Seal.**

**Again, I own nothing of PJO or HOO.**

**Hope you enjoyed it. Next up a Jasper/Jeyna scene. Please R&R.**


	3. Jasper,Jayna: The Winner Takes It All

**Here it is, guys. Jasper/Jeyna. It's supposed to be Jasper through the eyes of Reyna (sort of), but I'm not sure how it worked out. Hope you like it though. Please R&R and tell me if it worked. **

**And just so you know, I don't own anything to do with PJO, HOO or Rick Riordan.**

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**_The Winner Takes It All_**

Reyna watched them from a distance. She didn't think it would be wise to interrupt them. No matter how much pain she was in whenever she saw him with _her._ But they looked happy together. How could she compete with that? Had he been like that with her? There were just so many questions that Reyna asked herself about what she meant to Jason before he had his memory wiped… and no time to ask.

She accepted that Jason was now with Piper. But that still didn't mean that she couldn't hurt on the inside. She'd never admit it, though. She had to be strong for the sake of the camp. She had to be confident that the Greeks were not as different as first thought, that they weren't the enemy. She had to make sure that the two sides didn't kill each other thus saving Gaea the trouble of doing it herself.

However that couldn't stop the memories. When things got bad, he was there to make it right. He comforted her when she needed it… away from the eyes of the rest of the camp. When she felt like murdering Octavian, he was there to make sure that she didn't… no matter how much that creepy legacy deserved it. But not once had they ever kissed.

Seeing him with Piper, on the other hand, made Reyna realise that they were better off together anyway. She couldn't understand why, though. Maybe it was because she knew that the gods weren't in her favour. Venus was playing a deadly game with her heart that was for sure. And, unfortunately, it meant that the loser had to watch the winner take it all.

Piper was just… perfect for Jason. She was strong and determined, but she was gentle as well. Not like other Venus kids at all. And… Jason had chosen her. And there was no competing with his choice. Or Venus's for that matter. You shouldn't challenge a god if you were expected to live and lead an entire camp.

With a faint sigh, Reyna returned to the paperwork in front of her. The amount of complaints from the Romans (namely, Octavian) about the Greeks meant that she had a lot to sort out. And that meant that she couldn't get distracted with Jason's relationship with Piper. She wanted to be done with the complaints before dinner so that she could continue trying to figure out who and why someone would kill a fellow centurion. And also make them… ahem, teach them a lesson. But Jason still managed to distract her.

At least once on every page, Jason's name popped up. Sometimes her dyslexia would muck up and make her think that Jason's name was there when it wasn't. It was almost like he was haunting her. Then there were the Lares. None of them would shut up about how 'Jason Grace was strutting around with a _Graecus_' or just complain about the Greeks in general. They were almost as bad as Octavian. Which was saying something.

After about half an hour of trying to ignore the Lares and sort out the '_Graecus_' complaints, she gave up and looked out the window again. Jason and Piper were still sitting under the tree, supposedly hiding from sight. They weren't having much luck with that considering they were in perfect view of Reyna's window. And apparently one of them had said something funny because both of them were laughing, their laughter carrying on through the window and into Reyna's ears.

Then Piper leaned in to Jason and rested her head on his chest. Jason slowly began rubbing her back and it wasn't until a few minutes later that Reyna realised that Piper was upset. The Praetor didn't know what for, but she had a pretty good guess. Gaea. Either that or it was the fact that _she_ was a Greek demigod and he was a Roman demigod. In other words, them being together was dangerous.

Reyna returned to her work with a sigh. Out of nearly one hundred complaints on the Greeks, most of them were from Octavian. That guy really needed to get a life. But she just about lost it when she read his final complaint notice. Only this one wasn't a complaint. It suggested that since Jason was with Piper and Percy was going back with the rest of the Greeks, he would become praetor and somehow win her heart. Reyna's face grew red with anger.

" IN YOUR LIFE YOU MISERABLE, DISGUSTING LEGACY!" She screamed, unable to contain her anger any longer.

With that, she grabbed her dagger from the table in front of her and stormed out of the building. She had had enough of that boy. Rubbing the fact that Jason was with Piper in her face was the last straw. Unfortunately (or fortunately for Octavian) the slamming door had alerted Jason and Piper to Reyna's sudden anger.

" Reyna?" Jason called, looking up from muttering comforting words to Piper.

" I swear! I am going to murder that _miser excusatio augur!_"

" Okay, Reyna. Calm down. What exactly did he do this time?"

" What he always does; wants to claim position as _praetor_." Reyna didn't think it was necessary to say the other thing that Octavian had written.

The problem with being around a daughter of Venus is that they can sense when something about love isn't being said. This was no exception. And the guilty look on Piper's face was proof enough. Jason, though, remained completely oblivious to that. But it was the sudden realisation of him knowing exactly what was going on that managed to somehow calm Reyna.

" Okay. I'm going to go talk with him." And before Reyna could say another word, Jason had already begun to leave.

" Wait! You remember?" Reyna called, but he was already out of hearing range.

" Yeah, he does. Not everything, just yet. But the majority." Piper answered quietly for the son of Jupiter.

Reyna turned to face her. It was clear in Piper's face that she felt ashamed of taking Jason from her. There were a few minutes of awkward silence between the two. Neither one wanted to bring up their past with Jason. And there seemed to be a million things buzzing through the daughter of Bellona's mind. However, only one thing stood out. Venus was still playing her little torture game with her heart.

Suddenly, something dashed through Piper's kaleidoscopic eyes. She was about to speak again when Reyna interrupted.

" Maybe it's best that he does not know exactly everything." The Roman sighed.

" What do you mean?" The Greek asked.

" You two seem happy together. Keep it that way. It's not every day that a Romeo and Juliet story has a happy ending."

" But what about…"

" We were only friends. Nothing more." But the slight strain in Reyna's voice made Piper think otherwise.

" Oh. Sorry."

" There is no need for apologies. You should know this, but love is just a game. Especially to your mother."

" I see. And in every game there is a winner and…"

" A loser, yes." Under her breath, Reyna added, " And you just so happen to be the winner that takes it all."

There was another awkward silence between the two girls before Reyna held out her hand.

" Though I do hope that we could also become friends, Piper Mclean."

Piper gave a small nod and shook Reyna's hand.

" I think that can work, Praetor Reyna." She said with a small smile, the smile spreading to Reyna's lips.

* * *

**And that is it. Hopefully there isn't any OOC hiding in here. ****I'm a bit of a Jasper fan myself, but I promise all Jeyna fans that there will be Jeyna in this series of one-shots. So please don't go flaming this. You will be appeased. (I guess that also means that I'm going to have to do Liper one-shots as well.)**

**_miser excusatio aurgur _= miserable excuse for an augur**

**scene inspired by the song 'The Winner Takes It All' by Abba. **

**Hope you liked it. next up is a choice:**

**a) Thalico**

**b) Frazel**

**c) Beckelena (BeckendorfxSilena)**

**d) WillxNyssa**

**Review with the order you want to read these and the most popular order will be the order that I work with.**


	4. WillxNyssa: Don't Cry

**Well, seeing as only one person participated in my little poll I had up in the last chapter, you guys got a WillxNyssa one-shot. Thank you Wisest Owl for you participation. **

**In other news, I have decided that this is now going to be a friendship series of one-shots as well as a romantic series of one-shots. Meaning, you may see one-shots on, say, Apollo and Artemis, or Grover and Percy. As family or friends respectively. It also means that Thalico fans can still get their dose of Thalia and Nico, but they won't always be as couples (I'm a little uncomfortable with putting cousins together. same thing goes with Thalia and Percy).**

**Other than that, I hope you realise that I do not own anything on PJO, HOO or Rick Riordan. And I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**_Don't Cry_**

The death of Beckendorf was hard on the entire camp, but none felt the sting more than Silena and the Hephaestus cabin. Burning his shroud was hard for everyone; even harder for some because he was a respected counsellor and friend. That, for some reason, made the sting even worse. And Will Solace, and the rest of the Apollo cabin, knew exactly how it felt for Beckendorf's brothers and sisters, what with having lost their own leader and brother to The Battle of the Labyrinth only the year before.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Nyssa bow her head in the attempt to stop her free-falling tears. Just the sight of her, with her strong shield shattered by the news of her brother, brought tears to his own eyes. She looked so broken – not at all like her usual movie heroine self that he had seen her as before. This was not the way he wanted her, or any one of her brothers and sisters, to be like or remembered if something happened to them during the oncoming war. Before he knew what he was doing, Will found himself by Nyssa's side.

" Hey, hey, Nyssa. Look at me. Please. It's all going to be okay. Beckendorf will always be a hero. He's made it so that we'll win this." He said softly, comforting himself as much as the daughter of Hephaestus.

" I hope you're right, Solace." Nyssa whispered through the knot in her throat.

" Trust me. Kronos is a sick bastard. None of us here are going to let him get away with what his done. Especially for this."

" I guess you're right."

" Of course I am."

" Don't get cocky, Solace."

Will gave Nyssa a small smile, noticing that her tears were no longer running down her cheeks, before turning to look around at the rest of the camp. The rest of the Hephaestus campers were trying to be strong for their fallen brother. Other campers were still finding it hard to believe that Beckendorf really was gone. Mrs O'Leary was whimpering (not so quietly considering her size) somewhere at the back of the crowd. Then there was Silena. The poor girl wouldn't stop crying. At the time, Will didn't notice how much people were caring more about how the daughter of Aphrodite was faring. It wasn't until a couple of days later that he realised.

The day before the camp was due to go off and defend Olympus, Will walked around in his 'free-time' period, helping anyone who needed it get ready for the upcoming fight. Beckendorf's death still weighed heavily over the camp but, once again, the war was the main focus on everyone's minds. But he couldn't help but notice that, as he walked around, talk of trying to help Silena through the ordeal seemed to be everywhere and he couldn't help but wonder, what about the Hephaestus cabin?

As he pondered this, he realised that people seemed to be expecting the cabin in question to be comforting each other. There was not one single thought on the other's minds about whether or not they needed comforting as well. He never realised that his feet were carrying him over to the forges where he was almost certain Nyssa would be until he heard the familiar clanging of tools on metal. And it wasn't until he heard the faint grumbles around the far corner of the forges that he stopped and went to check it out.

What he found was a girl with dark brown hair covering her hands and eyes. Her skin was smudged with oil, grease, battle scars and accidents from the forge, and the fallen yet silent tears of anger. And it was obvious that she had not long left the forges on impulse forced on her by her anger. It took Will a few seconds to realise that it was his movie heroine sitting there, curled up in a ball and otherwise hating the world.

" Nyssa?" He asked softly.

" Go away, Solace." Came the muffled growl as a reply.

" What's wrong?"

" No one cares about us. That's what's wrong. They all care about Silena. Not us."

" That's not true."

" Name one person, then."

" Okay." Will thought for a minute before continuing. " Well, he has blue eyes and blonde hair."

" That could be anyone, Solace." Nyssa interrupted.

" True. But this guy's tall and kind of athletic… I guess."

" That still could be anyone… in fact it could even be anyone from the Apollo cabin."

Will smiled slightly before adding the final piece of the puzzle. " And he's standing right here."

Nyssa looked up at him, her eyes no longer as fierce and angry, as he sat down next to her. He was right… again. Not everyone in camp was being obsessive over how Silena Beauregard had lost her boyfriend. Here was proof. The only question was why hadn't he shown up earlier? She didn't realise she had voiced her question until Will answered.

" I thought you may have wanted some time alone." He said quietly.

" And we've all been busy." Nyssa replied, her words as gentle as his despite her obvious anger.

" That too. But seriously…"

" Thanks."

" It's what friends do, Nyssa. They look out for each other. Now." Gently, Will leaned closer to the daughter of Hephaestus and wiped the angry tears from her cheeks. " No more tears?"

" No more tears. Or sudden bursts of anger." Nyssa added.

" That's good to hear. Come on." Will then got up and extended his hand to Nyssa. " We've got to make sure Kronos knows what's coming for him for Beckendorf's death. And we'll make sure that he learns to fear you with the amount of anger that you've got bottled up right now."

" He won't know what hit him." Nyssa smirked, tempted at the thought.

With that, Nyssa took Will's hand and together they walked back into the forges. And, like he had done with Nyssa moments before, Will made sure that every member of the Hephaestus cabin knew that they hadn't been forgotten and that Beckendorf would be proud of what they were doing. He also brought it upon himself to make sure that they knew Kronos was a bastard for taking one of the best and that he was going to regret doing it.

And regret it he most certainly did when Percy led the demigods of Camp Half-Blood to victory and Olympus was saved. Beckendorf's death had been avenged with the amazing works of his brothers and sisters. But when Will turned to them at the end of the battle, he found Nyssa off to one side and rubbing at her face furiously like she was trying to hide something. And at the sight of her, he began wondering if he was ever going to see her laugh again.

" Don't cry, Nyssa." He said, going up to stand with her. " You'll ruin the perfect image."

" What perfect image?" Nyssa asked, looking at him like he had just grown a pair of horns despite the silver streaks down her face.

" We won, didn't we? Just like I said we would."

" But we lost so many."

" Yeah. Apollo lost another counsellor this year. But they didn't die for nothing. No hero ever dies for nothing."

Nyssa looked up at him and noticed the distant look in his eye, like he was convincing himself as much as, if not more than, her. He usually got that way when he was purposefully forgetting to add something in when he was talking about something. And she knew that there was no finding out what that something was until after it had been announced to the entire camp. She knew perfectly. Unless you wanted something going around camp like rapid fire, you had to try not to create rumours.

Will must have realised what was happening because he suddenly shook his head and gave the daughter of Hephaestus a small smile. It didn't mean anything, really. It wasn't the one that he specially reserved for his dates. But part of it seemed like it had been forced slightly, like he knew he had to keep up the smile around her despite what had happened.

" And you're the one who's telling me not to cry." Nyssa quietly mused.

" I'm not crying." Will protested. " I'm just thinking."

" What about?"

" That we need to get back to camp and that we need to hope that there won't be another war after this." With that, Will began to lead Nyssa to the elevator that led down to the Empire State Building.

" You did know that you saying that just jinxed us." Nyssa countered, not allowing him to take her arm like she was some kind of princess.

" Then we pray to Lady Tyche and hope for the best."

Said goddess merely smiled at the two as they passed her, knowing full well that that was not her way of doing things. Demigods, just like mortals, had to earn that kind of luck and not beg for it. But the two demigods noticed the smile and took it as a sign that she _may_ help bring about that request. How wrong they were. Nyssa, though, seemed to remember something that Will had apparently forgotten.

" Unfortunately, our semi-normal lives prevent luck from ever finding us. Sorry, Will, but you jinxed us."

Will stared at her blankly for a few minutes as they waited for the elevator. Never had he actually heard her say his name to him before. Then again, the end of the war signalled the start of a whole lot of other things too. Maybe that was the start of a friendship forming between the two that Will had witnessed.

" Semi-normal?" He had to ask. " Unfortunately, the lives of a demigod can't be classed even as that."

" I guess you're right." Nyssa sighed, realising what he said was true. " One more thing."

" Yes?"

As quick as lightning, Nyssa then reached up and pecked the son of Apollo lightly on the cheek. " Thanks. For everything. It made… all of us happy."

And with that, Nyssa walked into the awaiting elevator, leaving a stunned and confused Will Solace to stare awkwardly at the now closing doors, not knowing what to think of what had just happened.

* * *

**And that was WillxNyssa. Hope you liked it and that there wasn't any OOC.**

**Inspired by (sort of) the song 'Don't Cry' by Seal.**

**Now I'm going to try again with this poll thing. You get to chose between:**

**a) Thalico**

**b) Frazel**

**c) Beckelena (BeckendorfxSilena)**

**d) Gruniper (GroverxJuniper)**

**Review and let me know. :)**


	5. Frazel: She Believes In Me

**Okay, so the winner of the last poll was Frazel. And here it is. It took me a little while to work on due to a bit of writers block (the cursed thing!), but I finally got it up. Hope you enjoy.**

**Also, in case you haven't figured it out already, I do not own anything to do with PJO, HOO or Rick Riordan.**

* * *

_**She Believes In Me**_

Frank stood on the bow of the _Argo II_, looking out over the gathered army of the giants. It was still early in the morning (Apollo was still thinking about waking), but that didn't seem to matter to anyone. As far as he knew, he was the only one who couldn't get to sleep. The upcoming battle that was lurking behind the dawn was plaguing his mind and his dreams. And he knew that sleep deprivation was a serious flaw in any battle strategy. Not even the world's greatest battle strategist could work if he was sleep deprived. Even children of Minerva didn't work to their top standards if they were sleep deprived. That just proved how deadly it really was.

With a sigh, Frank turned back to face the door that lead to the sleeping quarters of the ship. Hopefully the others were resting up for the big battle the next day. Hopefully. But that probably wasn't true due to the fact that there was a battle to determine who got claim over the world lurking just around the corner. Who could sleep when the thought of Mother Earth smothering you in hoards of blood-thirsty monsters that could kill you plagued your mind?

It was a scary thought, he had to admit, but that wouldn't stop him from bringing down as many as he could before they could bring him down. He was just worried that, with the hero: monster ratio, he won't make much of a difference to their ranks before they managed to bring him down. Again he turned to face the awaiting army, wondering how seven demigods, in fact seven teenagers, could even manage to win against Gaea and her army of monsters. It didn't help that everything he thought about, every plan he made, usually ended up with them all dead… or at least one of the anyway. In the back of his mind he was listening to the Prophecy of Seven over and over again. He was that entranced in his own mind that he didn't hear someone join him on deck until they were already beside him.

" There's so many of them." a soft voice whispered, making Frank jump at the sudden break of silence.

It took him a minute to calm himself before he looked to his right. He could just make out long, curly golden-brown hair and dark skin against the still dark sky, but he knew exactly who was beside him. And she seemed to be dressed in preparation for the fight. all in all, despite current events, she looked stunning, especially with the sun just starting to peak across the horizon. It was with that image branding itself into his mind that an overpowering sense of protection for the one he loved washed over him… only strengthening as he turned to face the monster army once more.

" Yeah. We'll never get through them all. Every strategy I think of seems to end brutally." He replied softly.

" I'm sure you're find a way. With you and Annabeth working on strategies all the time, I'm sure the two of you can figure something out. Don't forget; you won the War Games for the Fifth Cohort back when Percy came to camp." Hazel said, confidence lacing her words, as she placed a hand on Frank's muscular arm.

" I guess you're right."

" I know I'm right, Frank Zhang. Now stop doubting yourself. We'll make it out of this all right. we're demigods."

" But even demigods die, Hazel."

" Please, don't remind me."

There was silence between the two for a few minutes before either one of them said anything. It wasn't an awkward silence, but it wasn't entirely peaceful either. The looming battle and enormous army before them probably didn't help. But somehow the two managed to find some form of peace between each other. Maybe the fact that they may not see each other after this was what enforced the calm between the two, but whatever it was, it allowed them to appreciate the rising sun.

Finally, after a few minutes of said silence and calm rising sun, the early morning rays gave light to the battlefield. It seemed, to Frank and Hazel, that the only one who managed to get any sleep at all was the enemy. The entire camp was still sleeping (that is if monsters sleep). And, just like Hazel had said, a new battle plan had begun forming in Frank's head. All they had to do was sneak into the camp before the monsters woke and slaughter as many as they could before they were discovered and destroyed. But a sigh broke through his lips when he realised he was thinking about the same outcome to all his previous plans. One, if not all, of them would end up dead.

" Let me guess. You had something but you lost it?" Hazel asked softly, verbally breaking the silence.

" You could say that." Frank replied, looking from the army before them to the girl beside him.

" Then what's the problem?"

" If we leave now, while they're still asleep, we may stand a chance…but…"

" But…?" Hazel urged.

The son of Mars looked down at his feet. " We could all end up dead… just like in every other plan of mine."

" You really need to stop doubting yourself."

" I can't help it!"

" I think you can, Frank." Silence fell between them again before she added, " This is about your clumsiness, isn't it?"

" …Maybe."

The daughter of Pluto gave a short sigh. " You know, that clumsiness may be useful for this. Knock down a few traps that they manage to kill themselves on; throw one of Leo's Greek fire bombs in one direction and blow up an entire platoon of enemies in another direction; set up a chain reaction of explosives and sit back and watch as they get blown to smithereens while those that manage to survive cower in fear. Like on some of those shows that Leo sometimes watched when he thinks no one's around. It would be fun."

" That sure would be handing Gaea back her ass." The son of Mars said, a small smile touching his lips as he thought about the scenarios.

" Or if you really want to do some damage, just turn into something like a dragon and torch them. That could work, right?"

" I guess I could do that. But isn't this a bit, I don't know, demonic of you?"

" I just want to make sure Gaea doesn't wake. She kidnapped my brother and manipulated both me and my mother. She took my life. She's also changed my friends' lives. I want to make sure that she knows not to mess with me or my friends."

" She won't. I'll make sure of that."

" That's the Frank I know and love."

As she finished her sentence, Frank turned to the daughter of Pluto in shock. He had never thought that she had those kinds of feeling towards him. But then again, it could just be the way of the saying and she only meant it in a friendly way. The shock and confusion must have shown on his face because Hazel's cheeks began to glow and she looked away awkwardly, trying not to meet his eyes. And yet, both of them seemed to realise that the meaning of the last word was leaning towards more than just a friendship.

" I mean…" Hazel began awkwardly.

" I know what you mean." Frank sighed, feeling his face heat up slightly himself.

" You do?"

" Yeah. You've worked you magic again."

The blush across Hazel's cheeks deepened as Frank's face eased into a warm smile. At that moment, with the sun over their shoulders turning the land to gold, nothing could matter to him. Not even the awaiting hoard of blood thirsty monsters could deter him from his new, personal goal. Because he knew that he would do anything for the one he loved… and she believed he could do anything. Nothing was going to get in his way of protecting Hazel Levesque.

" My magic?" the girl of his dreams asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

" You believe in me." He replied softly.

" Of course I do. And so do the others."

" And that's reason enough for me." Then he bent down and gently pressed his lips against hers. When he pulled away, he whispered into her ear, " I love you, too."

With that said, Frank took her hand and quietly led her back into the _Argo II_ where their friends were waiting for them at breakfast.

* * *

**And thar she blows! Hope you enjoyed my little Frazel. I also hope that there wasn't any OOC.**

**Inspired by 'She Believes (In Me)' by Ronan Keating. And I think a little 'Angel Of Mine' by Monica snuck its way into the ending.**

**Now for a little twist to my polls. I'm not going to put up a replacement for Frazel. Instead you get to chose (or re-chose, whichever way you see it) between:**

**1) Thalico**

**2) Beckelena**

**3) Gruniper**

**Review and let me know. Thanks, guys ;)**


	6. Beckelena: Never Gone

**Wow. I've been working on this for just over three weeks. And I only just uploaded it. Sorry for the wait guys! **

**Anyway, out of a total of 2 votes, Beckelena won. Because of this, I have decided to no longer do polls. Thank you to the 2 people who voted. Hope you enjoy!**

**I say it again, I do not own anything on PJO, HOO or Rick Riordan. I do, however, own Emilee Hudson and the mentioned Crystal Garcia, Alana Ford and Emily Vanguard. I also own the pegasi, Teleri and Baron.**

* * *

_**Never Gone**_

Going back to her cabin after the funeral was probably one of the hardest things Silena could do. In fact, knowing that he was gone was hard to deal with. And the fact that she knew she had caused his death weighed heavily over her head like a storm cloud. But that little secret was hers and hers alone. The trek back to the cabin made her wonder what kind of girlfriend she really was to fall in love then leak sensitive information on an important mission which ended up costing her the life of the one she loved.

Drew had already taken the rest of the Aphrodite campers back before her, so that she had some time to herself. And that time to herself, though it made her think about what she had done to Charlie, made her think about the good times that she had had with him. The memories made her smile sadly to herself and the tears came fresh and fast to her eyes again. At least no one expected her to go to her next activity after such an ordeal, because as soon as she reached her cabin she made her way to her bunk and took down the last picture of her and Charlie.

It was from a week before Charlie had gone off to get Percy and blow up the _Princess Andromeda_. They had been riding the pegasi (Silena on a palomino mare named Teleri and Charlie on a bay stallion named Baron) and just enjoying the day. When they had landed to go have a picnic lunch on the beach, one of Silena's younger sisters, Crystal Garcia, had stolen the moment with her camera. Once they had managed to convince Crystal to leave, they had an enjoyable picnic lunch together.

With a sigh, Silena held the photo close to her for a few minutes before placing it back in its place on her wall. She looked up at all her other photos, remembering each and every memory that came with them. There was Fourth of July photos, birthday photos, Halloween photos, Valentine's Day photos, and everyday photos. And, for some strange reason, every smile on the many faces of Charles Beckendorf seemed to remind her that he was still there for her. And, for some strange reason, she believed that he was never gone.

She stayed like that up until dinner. By that time, it had been discovered that Percy had disappeared from camp... again. But she knew, somehow, that this time it meant that Camp Half-Blood was about to make their final stand. And that was when she silently promised herself and Charlie that she would make up what she had done by fighting with her friends and family for Camp Half-Blood… just like her love had done.

* * *

That night, she dreamed that she was riding her favourite palomino mare, Teleri, above the peaceful landscape that was Camp Half-Blood. There was no sound of demigods training with each other or pulling pranks and the climbing wall was completely still for once. The Sound sparkled with the light of the mid-afternoon sun. And it was peaceful enough that everyone would just be enjoying the day and relaxing.

But the peace was disturbed by the sound of metal being hammered into shape. The sound was coming from the forges. Curious about the disturbance in the peace, Silena gently spurred Teleri into making her way towards the forges. Before the mare had even landed, she was able to make out the black and brown coat of Baron. And she knew that the bay pegasus should still be in the stables, refusing to let any of the other campers, except Percy and herself, near him (she had been witness to a very painful kick aimed at a surprisingly innocent child of Hermes after news had reached the stables of Charles Beckendorf's death and had had to calm the pegasus before taking the injured camper to the infirmary).

" Thanks Teleri." She said once the pegasus had landed and she had slid off her back. " You've been a good girl."

With a final pat, the palomino pegasus trotted up to the bay and the two nuzzled at each other. Then, in a flurry of wings, the two had flown off into the sky and beyond the clouds. That meant that Silena was left alone with her back still to the front of the forges. But something she hadn't noticed was that the clatter of metal being forced into shape had become silence at the sound of her voice.

" Silena?" A hoarse sounding voice called from behind her, making her turn suddenly.

Standing behind her, his bare skin covered in grease, oil, the occasional scratch and scars from previous battles, was the very boy from all the photos that hung on her wall. He was wearing one of the forges aprons, but that didn't matter much to her. What did was that he was there. Before she could stop herself, she had run forward and leapt into his arms, burying her face into his dark coloured neck.

" Charlie! Oh Charlie. Why… why did you have to do that? Why? I've lost you forever, now." Silena cried.

" That's not true." Beckendorf sighed.

" You don't understand. I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted you to die." With a more softer tone she added. " I did everything for you."

" I do understand, Silena. And that's why I love you."

" but I… I had to. And now I've lost you. I should never have fallen for him."

" You haven't lost me." At this, Silena moved her head from his neck so that she was able to see into his deep brown eyes easily. " I'm always with you. And I always will be with you… where it counts the most. I will never be gone."

With that, the two fell silent, ready to enjoy the peace that had surrounded the rest of Camp Half-Blood. But even in a dream, Silena knew that she would never be able to hold her Charlie ever again. And the thought brought the tears back into her eyes. Especially when she realised that Charlie would not be there working in the forges when she woke up the next day. Gently, Beckendorf wiped the tears from her cheeks before sweeping his lips across hers.

" Do you remember those feathers we tied together? The charm you made with a feather from Teleri and a feather from Baron that day your sister took a picture of us the day we had that picnic?" He whispered in her ear.

" Yeah." She replied, still trying to settle her tears.

" Well, I found out that night that _my_ sister, Emilee, and that Alana Ford girl from the Hermes cabin were with her. They know about the charm. So I left Emilee with a gift. Show her the charm. She'll know what to do. I'm just sorry I couldn't give it to you in person."

" I'll love you all the same, no matter what."

" I love you, too. Remember the charm."

Slowly, Charles Beckendorf began to fade into the forges around her. On the table behind him glittered something made of bronze, but as Silena took a step towards it to see what it was, the shadows moved to envelope it darkness. The shadows didn't stop there, however. They also grabbed at the daughter of Aphrodite and began pulling her backwards away from the forges. Pretty soon, as Silena kept on struggling, the shadows had engulfed Camp Half-Blood to a cackling darkness and she had woken herself from the dream turned nightmare.

* * *

By mid-morning the next day, Silena found herself in front of the Hephaestus cabin. In her hand was a wooden triangle surrounding two feathers – a golden white feather crossed over a brown and black tipped feather. The quills of both feathers were tied to the sides of the triangle with gold ribbon and cord while the tips of their shafts were tied to the bottom of the triangle with an almost invisible strip of bronze from the forges. Bronze sheets also covered the corners of the triangle, making it look like a triangular photo frame.

Gently, she raised one hand from the charm and knocked against the large metal door. The sound that resonated from within seemed more like a gong being struck… but it sounded melancholic as it rang throughout the metallic building. Within a matter of minutes, the door was opened by a dejected looking Jake Mason.

" Yeah, wha-" the son of Hephaestus cut himself off when he realised who was at his door. " Oh, hey Silena. What's up?" He didn't need to ask how she was feeling… his entire cabin felt the same.

" I need to see Emilee." Silena replied quietly.

" Emilee Hudson or Emily Vanguard?"

" Whichever one is friends with Crystal Garcia and Alana Ford of Hermes."

" That would be Hudson. Hold on and I'll go get her."

With that, Jake disappeared back into the depths of his cabin. Not long after that, the sound of banging and yelling emerged from the other side of the door. It made Silena wonder what exactly was going on in the cabin. But after a few minutes, a girl who was clearly affected by dwarfism exited the cabin, closing the door behind her. Aside from the smudges on her arms and face and the redness of her chocolate-brown eyes, she seemed a little bit happier than her older brother.

" You wanting to see me, Princess?" She said in a southern accent. Silena figured she must have looked a little bit more upset over being called a princess because the girl added. " Sorry. I call everyone princess… unless they're guy, then I call them prince. Can't help it."

" Just call me Silena, then." Silena replied with a sad smile.

" Sure thing. Now, what can I do for ya?"

" I had a dream about Charlie last night. He said that I needed to show you this."

The older girl held out the charm that rested in her left hand and received a gasp of remembrance as a response. Not only that, the daughter of Hephaestus had grabbed her free wrist was dragging her through camp and towards the forges. Silena wasn't sure if it was the demigod training or if Emilee was naturally like that, but this little person sure had speed on her side. In no time flat, the two of them were slowing down to go into the forges.

By the time they had actually stopped, they were standing in front of a set of lockers. Emilee rushed to the far right locker of the last row and worked furiously with the security that she had obviously placed on the thing. Why? Silena had no idea. But she didn't question it. Instead she watched as the girl inserted a bronze key into the lock and pull out an object carefully wrapped in cloth. As if she were holding the most valuable thing in the whole world, Emilee handed Silena the gift.

" I think he had this feeling that he wasn't going to make it off that boat so he made me promise that I'd give this to you. I'm the only one who knows about it even though none of us were here when he was making it." The daughter of Hephaestus said as Silena took the gift.

Carefully, the daughter of Aphrodite unwrapped the cloth to reveal a bronze, heart-shaped locket. Etched into the surface of the locket, in the centre of the heart, was the image of a dove carrying a small wrench in its beak. Slowly, Silena ran her fingers over the dove as new tears began lining her eyes. But then she noticed that the locket opened. When she further examined the locket, she found that one side of the locket's interior housed a small image of her and Charlie sitting on Half-Blood Hill. But it was the words in the other half of the locket that finally made the tears fall from her eyes.

" Thank you." She choked out as she closed the locket and placed it around her neck.

As she and Emilee turned to leave the forges, she couldn't help up think of the words that now hung around her neck. They were written in Greek, but she knew the reference well. It was part of the chorus to one of her favourite songs. But this time, as she heard them being sung in her head, she took the words in with a whole new meaning.

'_Never gone, never far  
In my heart is where you are.  
Always close, everyday  
Every step along the way._'

* * *

**So there you have it. Hope you liked it and everyone was in character. Personally, I think the ending sucked. Review and tell me if I'm wrong.**

**Inspired by 'Never Gone' by the Backstreet Boys.**


	7. Thalico: Forbidden Love

**Don't worry , guys. I haven't forgotten about this. I just had a seriously bad case of writers block. I'm not joking. It took a trip to my brother's house the other day to actually get an idea in my head for this. Never knew it could be so hard when the mentioned couple aren't actually a couple.**

**Anyway, thought I'd remind you that I do not own anything to do with PJO, HOO or Rick Riordan. Other than that, hope you guys enjoy.**

**Warning: mild coarse language towards the end of this one-shot.**

* * *

**_Forbidden Love_**

He gazed up into the bottom of the bunk on top of his, his thoughts drifting to forbidden things. He wondered about how his life had been since she showed up in it, what he had done to deserve being rescued by her. But nothing came to his mind in the form of the answers he wanted. All he knew was that his life was now ruined.

The wooden slates of the bunk were boring, yet they were interesting at the same time. He wondered why. Perhaps it was the almost black knots in the dark wood making intriguing patterns. Or maybe it was because the wood itself reminded him of her. He just didn't know for sure what it was. So he forced his mind into thinking it was the first option.

Well… he thought it was the first option.

Slowly he raised his right hand and began tracing the knots in the wood above his head. Hopefully sleep would cloud his thoughts so that he didn't have to think about her. And hopefully both Hypnos and Morpheus would let that sleep be a peaceful, dreamless sleep. But somehow he didn't think he was entitled to something as precious as that. Finally, that sigh he had been waiting for decided to escape his lips.

" Out of everyone I know, why did it have to be her?" He muttered softly to himself.

But, of course, the wood didn't reply. Not that he didn't believe that trees and shrubs had the ability to speak. It's just, he would have been surprised if this particular cut of wood had suddenly grown a face and began talking to him. Slowly, his eyes began to droop, making the knots in the wood transform into other shapes. He recognised one as looking like his cousin's sword. Another, for some reason, looked like a cat. A third just above his head looked like a flying pegasus. But the knot right in front of his face had gone from looking like a lion's face to looking like the girl he was forbidden to love.

Curse his luck.

Everything was exactly how he saw her, right down to the punk style jacket and the spikey hair. He could even see the freckles that graced her face. Oh, great! Now he's thinking about forbidden names that she could kill him for if she ever found out. Not that he wasn't already going to be killed by someone. A chill ran down his spine at the thought of what the goddess could do with him. He decided not to think about it.

Unfortunately, the gods didn't want him to have a peaceful rest that day. Almost immediately after he had decided that he wasn't going to think about what the moon goddess could do to him, the knots in the wood began twisting within themselves. And they weren't pretty sights, either. One depicted him being turned into a jackalope. Another had him being turned into a weird unicorn rabbit thing and then being shot because he was too dangerous. A third had him being turned into a basilisk and being used as a new form of training.

But the last was probably the most terrifying that he could possibly think of… her rejecting him when he finally managed to pluck up the courage and ask her out. He knew it was going to happen, anyway. He just didn't _want_ it to happen. He wanted to believe that he had some kind of chance even though he knew he didn't.

A knock at his door penetrated his depressing thoughts. At first he wondered who it was, then he decided that he didn't want to know. He was tempted to send one of his ever ready skeletons after the poor guy just so he could be left alone to brood over his fantasies. Of course, that never happened. He wondered what was wrong, but blamed it on his cursed luck and love life and went back to staring at the knots in the wood that still depicted various torture scenes. That just proved that he needed to get a life like everyone wanted him to do.

One thing was for sure, some of those scenes would do well in the Fields of Punishment.

" Stupid skeleton." He mumbled. " Get your bones together and get rid of the intruder."

He didn't know if he was disappointed or not about the still non-responsive skeleton, but he stayed his eyes on the disturbing images before them. He wasn't sure why, though. Those images were really making him worry about what the goddess was willing to do with him if she ever found out about his crush on one of her girls. The only thing he was glad about was that the knots in the wood weren't showing him what the girl of his dreams could torture him with. But, of course, that changed, too. First there was a spear, then a pack of wolves, then a flock of falcons and finally the bolt of lightning.

The knock at his door sounded again, more urgent this time. And to top it off, someone had added their voice to it. He wanted them to just go away and leave him alone. Maybe if he concentrated hard enough, he would be able to resurrect a dog skeleton and give it a voice so it could scare them away and he could stay where he was. Or, if he really wanted to scare them, he could resurrect a big cat or dinosaur or something like that. He gave a sigh and grumbled something incoherent.

Slowly he let his mind wander back to the girl. He had given up trying to control the non-responsive skeleton and non-existent guard dog skeleton. He had even given up staring at the slightly disturbing images dancing around in the knots in the wood above his head. All he could focus on were the electric blue eyes, the spikey black hair, the freckles on the face and the punk aura that seemed to hang over her… and the silver circlet on her head that forbade him from ever properly loving her. That silver circlet was probably the most depressing thing about her, actually.

_Well you could still lover her._ Said a voice in the back of his head.

" It just means a very embarrassing and painful death when I do claim my love." He murmured aloud.

He did not realised that his cabin had been broken into until it was too late.

" Nico di Angelo! Get that sorry ass of yours out of that bed right now!" _Her_ voice penetrated his thoughts easily, forcing his eyes open and his body to act of its own accord and do her bidding itself.

" AHHH!" He screamed from his floor, followed shortly by, " Thalia!"

" Don't start, Leo!" Someone threatened from outside the cabin door.

But it was too late. " Annabeth!" The hyperactive son of Hephaestus exclaimed excitedly.

" Percy!" The sure sound of Percy's voice exclaimed at the end. Obviously he was feeling left out.

" Kelp head." Thalia sighed, shaking her head sadly.

" What are you doing here?" Nico asked, now seriously regretting not being able to call forth that skeleton guard.

" We came to remind you that there is a meeting on in the Big House that you have a right to be present at." Annabeth said, now standing in the doorway.

" Yeah. And we find you snoring your head off." Thalia growled.

" I don't snore!" Nico protested.

It was a defence. He could feel the blood rushing to his face at the very thought that she had found out. That was one thing that he hadn't wanted her to know about. How was he going to confront her now that she knew that he snored? This really was turning into the worst day of his life. He just prayed that it didn't get worse.

" No." Thalia had turned to her favourite past time known as sarcasm. " We've been standing at your door for fifteen minutes! We could hear you!"

" Crap."

Nico's day had just gotten worse.

* * *

**Well, there you have it. The thing that has been my torture ever since I had a suggestion come in to do Thalico. It may have taken me weeks to write and upload, but I'd have to say it's taken me months just to work out. Hopefully, you guys liked it. And I hopefully I got everyone in charater.**

**Please R&R**


	8. Gruniper: Beautiful As You

**I'm sorry guys for not updating sooner, but there has been a lot going on in my life. And, I admit, I had writers block again. Who invented that anyway? I'd like to give them a piece of my mind on that highly infectious author's disease that comes around from time to time. It is very annoying.**

**And now that that small rant is over, please remember that I own nothing belonging to Rick Riordan in this one-shot. **

**other than that... enjoy.**

* * *

_**Beautiful As You**_

She was worried. Day in and day out, her worry kept growing. She made threats that she would kill him when she next saw him. She told the other nymphs that she would strangle him with her bare hands for the months of worry that he had put her through. And then when the war began, she thought that she was going to die with worry. There had been no way of knowing if he was alive or not before, but with the start of the war there was an even slimmer chance than before. Again her worried thoughts led her to want to 'strangle' him if she ever found out that he was alive. Alas, all that she said she would do quickly evaporated from her like Lord Apollo shining down on her leaves when she found out that he was alive and well.

" Grover!" She screamed seconds before launching herself into a flying-tackle hug.

Said satyr spun her around a couple of times when he caught her (probably to steady himself a little too), before placing a quick kiss on her cheek and making sure her feet touched the ground once more. Then he led her down the path to the beach, the roar of the excited crowd dying down with each step further away the couple took.

The beach was calm that night, glistening in the shining stars above as they peaked slowly back into the world. The waves crashed gently against the shore. It was hard to believe that only a few hours before there had been a war raging. Hard to believe that where there was now peace, there used to be chaos. Slowly the two made their way through the break towards the forest.

" Where have you been?" she asked, months of worry lacing each word.

Instantly he became uncomfortable. " W-well, Juniper. I-I've been asleep." He stuttered.

" You've been asleep."

Juniper didn't mean to sound nasty. It was just all her worry finally finding a way out of her. And now that the excitement from the dining pavilion was over, that worry had returned with a vengeance. Unfortunately, that meant that Grover was getting the full force of the attack now. But somehow he senses her worry and inner turmoil and wrapped her hand in his. It was a small gesture, but a comforting one. And it instantly told her that everything was going to be okay.

" I never meant to fall asleep." He said gently. " Morpheus had placed me under one of his sleeping spells. Percy woke me up before the battle and I've been helping ever since. I'm sorry I didn't see you earlier."

Juniper, however, wasn't satisfied. She had been worried for months and all Grover had to say about it was 'I'm sorry'. _Well guess what, buddy._ She thought to herself, tears brimming her eyes. _'I'm sorry' doesn't cut it. _She was about to say something about that, too, when Grover stopped her.

" Listen, Juniper." He began. " I know you're probably hating me right now and planning very painful ways to kill me. But just look at the horizon and tell me what you see."

The nymph was about to protest against it, explain that doing something like ignoring your worried to death girlfriend was something that wasn't on the universal 'to do' list if a boyfriend wanted to keep that girlfriend. But the pleading look in the satyr's deep brown eyes made her turn to the sight behind her. And what a sight it was. Pure magic made from Nature's best. Apollo, though probably sore, must have been extremely happy that night. Or at least extremely relieved considering how many never made it home again.

The warm pink, dull orange and glimmering gold of the sunset was pure magic. There was no other way to describe it. And the way it shimmered on top of the ocean only added to the effect. It was one of the best sunsets she had seen. And the darkening surroundings merely seemed to frame that moment for just that, a moment… a small expanse of beauty somewhere between sun and stars that lasted only a moment each and every day. Slowly, Juniper turned back to Grover.

" I see the sunset." She said, awe coating her words as it always did when she watched the sun rise and fall every day. " As magical as Apollo and Hecate always make it at this time of day."

" Do you want to know what I see?" Grover replied. With a nod of Juniper's head, he continued. " I see nothing but you. The sunset makes you more beautiful. And I admit that I made a mistake. I know I'm not perfect… but can you forgive me? Will you give me a second chance?"

" You really see me that way?" Tears once more returned to Juniper's eyes, though this time it was for a completely different reason.

" Really, really." A soft smile began to spread over Grover's usually nervous features.

They were only two small words that he had heard multiple times from his cousin, but they were powerful. In fact, they were that powerful that Juniper leapt into his arms again, her tears finally spilling over. At that moment, one particular memory returned to Grover's mind. It was a simple memory, stargazing with the very girl that was in his arms on their first official date. Artemis's moon shone so brightly that a rainbow had surrounded it and there were shooting stars everywhere. That truly was a magical night.

" To me, nothing will be as beautiful as you are right now and for always." He whispered into her ear as the moon finally too her place in the skies.

" And you will always be mine." She replied through her own tears and his shirt.

" Always?"

" You're my Lord of the Wild and nothing is going to change that."

" So I got my second change?"

Juniper laughed, but she did manage a small 'I love you' as an answer to the satyr. And with that, just like everyone else that night, the couple celebrated the safe return of those still alive and the victory of the gods. But more importantly, they celebrated each other's lone presence that the other had unknowingly been hungry for.

* * *

**Okay, so hopefully I got everyone in character. And if you haven't already guessed it by now, yes I did get the idea for this from TLO when Juniper lunges herself at Grover after the Battle of Manhattan is won. **

**Anyway, hope you like it and please let me know your thoughts on it. Again I'm sorry, but you'd be pleased to know that I have an idea for at least the next two or three chapters.**


	9. Tratie: What a Wonderful World

**I know it hasn't been long since I last updated, but I couldn't resist. So tonight you'll get a double whammy. Hopefully this will make up the extremely long time it took for me to get that gruniper one-shot up.**

**Anyway, here's another Tratie moment, this time in the POV of Katie.**

* * *

_**What a Wonderful World**_

It was the first day of camp. The sun was peering through the clouds after a night of summer rain and was encasing the entire valley in its magnificent rays. Birds whistled gaily in welcome to the summer campers as they made their way across the border. Peleus the dragon was purring softly, joining the birds in welcome. And the scent of rain was still hanging in the wind, making Katie Gardner stop on Half-Blood Hill and look down at the sight below her.

There were the cabins slowly filling up with campers, the strawberry fields waiting for her gentle hand, and the forest waving slightly in the breeze despite the protesting calls of its inhabitants. In the distance, the sound looked peaceful as it brushed against the beach. There was no two ways about it… this was a scene that was pure magic in itself.

With a smile on her face, Katie made her way down to the cabins to drop off her bags. Along the way, she met up with Percy and Annabeth who were busy talking with Chiron about getting Jason, Hazel and Frank away from Camp Jupiter. Despite the battle with the Roman demigods, those two, as well as Piper and Leo, had remained strong with the other three. At the time, no one knew how things were going to turn out between the two camps. But Annabeth had sorted things out just fine… that is after the whole trip to Tartarus thing (but that is a whole different story). Chiron and Percy both greeted her warmly, as they always did, but it was Annabeth who Katie found wrapped around her neck the only way a friend knew how.

After that meeting, Katie seemed to run into everyone. There was Nyssa trying to get Leo and Jake out some form of trouble with one of the mechanical bulls. In fact you could hear Nyssa yelling all the way from the Big House at Leo trying to get him to listen to reason and _not_ torch the automaton. Drew, who had gotten surprisingly nicer since Piper took over the Aphrodite cabin, was working with some of her siblings in making sure Hera's temple was as clean as it could possibly get. Clarisse was being Clarisse and heading down to the Arena with a couple of her newer siblings, no doubt giving them the Ares initiation ceremony. It was funny how the Ares cabin fought with their newer, younger siblings and the rest of the camp got to meet the toilet from the other end.

But what seemed to get Katie more was when she noticed Travis and Connor Stoll in the arts and craft area… alone. If that didn't scream suspicious, she didn't know what did. But she ignored it and continued on to her cabin where the rest of her siblings were waiting to greet her. She had heard from Miranda that they had gotten a new brother during the winter and she couldn't wait to meet twelve year old Zachary Sawyer. But, of course, it was the twins who were the first to greet her back to camp.

" Katie!" Robyn and Fern Darling screamed for the entire cabin to hear as soon as she walked over the threshold.

" Hey, guys." Katie called, somehow managing to juggle two bags and hug little Melisa Clemens when she came running up to her. " Have the flowers bloomed yet?"

" Yes, yes, yes!" Melisa exclaimed excitedly. " Come and see!"

What could Katie do when she had an excited seven year old practically jumping up and down in front of her, wanting to show her the flowers that the two of them had planted the year before? After putting her bags on her bunk, she allowed Melisa to drag her out the door again and over to where the two girls had made a small flowerbed along the side of the cabin. The flowerbed itself was parted in threes with white Cherokee roses, red roses and yellow daffodils. And the surprising thing about those flowers was that it was Travis who Melisa had gone to in order to get the bulbs. Now all three types of flowers were blooming like nothing before, and bringing an obvious smile to those who saw them.

" Wow." Was all Katie could say to the excited girl who now had a massive grin on her face.

Once Melisa had had enough of Katie looking at the flowers, the seven year old shooed her off to go sort out her things. Katie didn't mind, though. She had got to see her little sister happy and that was all that counted. By the time she had finished unpacking, her brothers Thomas Patterson and Zachary Sawyer returned from the canoe lake.

Thomas had filed out now that he was sixteen. And his dark Australian Aboriginal skin and black hair seemed to shine in the sun. But it was his Australian accent which seemed to get the girls' attention. There was more than one girl that Katie knew about who had him in their sights. Zachary, though, looked more like a child of Apollo than a child of Demeter. He had blue eyes and light blond hair. But there was something about his face that told Katie that he definite had a touch for phytology.

" And that is how you dunk an Apollo and a Hermes team." Thomas was saying.

" What did you do this time?" Miranda asked, returning from a trip to the bathroom.

" We, as in Zach and I, did nothing. It was Jasper and Ryan. They were being themselves and ended up in the canoe lake with their canoe upside down."

" And how did they get that way?"

" Um… they were being themselves?"

" I think the answer to that question is that _you_ were being yourself, Tom." Katie said.

" Katie! Hey! Didn't know you were back yet. Zachy, this is our summer cabin leader. Katie, Zachary. I'll let you two get acquainted while I go see what Jasper and Ryan are up to." With that change of subject, Thomas was out the door.

The rest of the day seemed to go by in a normal fashion. Miranda updated Katie on everything that had been happening during the school terms, and Thomas tried to avoid his siblings for the rest of the day. In fact, the last time Katie saw him before dinner, he was talking with Piper for some unknown reason. But when Miranda asked Katie if she had seen the Stoll brothers, Katie instantly began to get suspicious. If they were evading people, it was usually because they were planning another prank… and that was 99% of the time.

Of course, ever since then, Katie had been on her guard. Like every other year that she had arrived at camp for Summer Session, she had been the first victim of the Stolls' prank year list. And she did not want this to be just like the other years. The problem was it was turning out to be exactly like every other year. Come dinner time, though, the Stolls were sitting harmlessly at their table and enjoying their meat pie slices that Thomas had made earlier that day; Travis sneaking glances at her whenever he thought that no one was looking.

But things turned peaceful again during dinner. Stories were traded amongst friends during dinner and campfire, as were photos, if it were possible. The Apollo cabin had decided to make that night a sort of talent night because there were quite a few campers missing from their benches, Thomas included. Katie quickly discovered why her brother was absent from his place at the Demeter bench when he walked out on stage wearing nothing but a loin cloth and a lot of paint (mostly white and yellow) and carrying a painted log.

" Dude! Put some clothes on!" One of the Aphrodite boys called up to him.

" This is traditional Australian Aboriginal attire, thank you very much. In fact, if my grandpa saw me like this he'd probably die of a heart attack because I would have finally embraced my heritage." Thomas called back, surprisingly looking pleased with himself.

He then proceeded to give a detailed story about how the Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime began. Then he planted himself on the stage floor, brought the painted log (which he called a didgeridoo) to his lips and played. It turned out that the song he was playing was actually that same story that he had been telling. When asked by a daughter of Apollo if she could play it, he turned it down saying that 'it was traditionally a man's sacred instrument and no woman was ever allowed to play one'.

Miranda and Lou Ellen also did a combined talent, showing off each other's talents as easily as making something magical happen from a bunch of flowers that had randomly appeared in Miranda's hand even though she was holding a rock. Tyson, gods bless him, attempted to tell the story of how he and Percy had met. His storytelling was so cute that no one could help but smile at the end of it. Even Coach Hedge had entered the talent show, telling his version of what had happened during the Giant War. There were a lot of 'Die's and 'Take that's and Chuck Norris round house kicks. Piper and Leo had to drag him off the stage before he did something that resulted in someone going to the infirmary.

By the end of the night, Katie had completely forgotten that the Stolls would be out to prank her sometime before midnight (they had this annoying habit that they _had_ to prank her the same day that she arrived at camp) and was thinking that the day had turned out quite normal considering they were in a camp for demigods. It could probably be considered wonderful, with how things had turned out. Feeling happy, she led her siblings back to the cabin so that they could get ready for bed.

" I think it turned out pretty good." Thomas said as they entered the cabin.

He was referring to the party crashers that were Zachary, Ryan and Jasper. Apparently it was planned to 'steal' Griffin's talent time with random nonsense. The result was that the son of Hermes ended up pulling out his sabre and was chasing Ryan around the stage while Zachary and Jasper hid under their benches. It was one of the highlights of the night because, believe it or not, he had been trying to impress Andi Prince from Apollo.

" Says you." Zachary grumbled.

" Hey, I was helping! Who do you think was making all that ruckus backstage?"

" Why are you suddenly out to get Griffin Lowe?" Katyana asked as she watched Thomas start trying to write a letter to his grandfather back in Australia.

" Because that's what friends do."

" In other words, he pranked the lot of them-" Robyn started.

" –And this is their pay back." Fern finished.

" You do realise that's creepy the way you do that, right?" Zachary said after a few minutes.

" You get used to it." Miranda replied with a smile.

" Okay, enough chitter-chatter. We've got a seven year old here that desperately needs to get some sleep." Katie said, hurrying an already yawning Melisa into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

While her siblings were talking, she had gotten Melisa's bed ready for her. Now all that was needed was the seven year old herself. Unfortunately, as Katie was getting her own bed ready, that was when the Stolls struck. You could practically hear them snickering all the way down the other end of the common green. What made her scream worse was that it was the one thing that neither she nor Miranda could stand. A snake. And there it was, coiled up under her covers. The result was that both Katie and Miranda found themselves cowering behind Thomas who just so happened to be on the top bunk furthest away from the snake.

" Crikey, mates. What's going on this time?" He asked, looking at the line that now graced his page.

For a reply, Katie just pointed at her bed.

" It's just a toy." Zachary said, picking up the snake and waving it around by its tail.

" Don't do that!" Miranda hissed.

" Katie." Katyana said as soothingly as she could. " You've been pranked."

There they were. The three words that Katie had hoped she wouldn't get to hear that day ever since she got out of the taxi. Suddenly, that wonderful day that Katie had been having turned out to be not so wonderful. And there were only two people who could have done something like that. Thomas and Miranda had just enough time to cover their ears before she blew.

" STOLL!"

* * *

**Okay, I think it is safer to say who I _don't_ own. Those people being anyone you recognise from the PJO/HOO series. Zachary, Katyana, Thomas, Ryan, Griffin, Jasper, Andi, Melisa and the Darling twins are all my own characters. Besides, I think you're getting tired of reading the disclaimer, am I right?**

**Anyway, I hope I got everyone in character. And I hope you enjoyed this.**

**This was inspired by Louis Armstrong's 'What A Wonderful World'**


	10. Beckelena: The Letter

**This is the second installment of the double whammy. Hopefully, you all like it.**

* * *

**_The Letter_**

Leo Valdez was lying on his bed wondering if he should try and get back to sleep or head down to Bunker 9 to work out Archimedes' scrolls and risk getting discovered by the harpies. Instead he decided to do neither of those things. The buttons and gadgets of his brother's bed (which was now his) were intriguing him once more despite having gone through them multiple times before going on the quest to lull Gaea back to sleep. And they seemed like the perfect things to get his mind off the nightmares from the Giant War.

The first thing he did was press every green button that he could find. By the end of that he had a 'black market' can of orange soft drink (which a metal arm had lazily handed to him from the already built in fridge), a small bowl of freshly made chocolate and caramel flavoured 'black market' popcorn (which made the entire cabin smell delicious), three of his own sketch books (which he had stored into the bed as soon as he was able), an entire set of pencils and pens (lead and coloured as well as red, black and blue), and a lone pair of pink headphones that looked suspiciously like Nyssa's missing pair (which he immediately placed on his sister's locker). The last thing that he wanted was to get caught with those headphones.

After a couple of large handfuls of the popcorn and the entire can of soft drink, the shaped buttons became Leo's next victims. As he guessed, the only things that showed themselves were nut, bolts and cogs that needed a desperate clean. Oh, and the grease, oil and shammies cloths that were found in the compartment for the crescent shaped button.

The purple, yellow and blue buttons all came up empty handed, though Leo was sure that he had placed something or found something in one of those compartments sometime before the war. Hopefully Travis and Connor hadn't figured out how to work the beds in the cabin otherwise that would be disastrous (not that him being in the cabin himself wasn't very safe from time to time either).

But the one thing he had never pushed before was the big red button that was engraved with a dove. Something had always told him that it was top secret, private only, touch and you will be instantly vaporised. So he left it alone. But this time the son of Hephaestus was just too curious to resist. Don't get him wrong. He did try at first. It was just that he didn't have as much self-control over it this time. With a deep breath and praying that it was not his last, he pressed the red button.

Thankfully nothing blew up. There was no smoke (which was a good thing) and there were no sparks either, though the button was a little rusty from the lack of use since Hephaestus knew when. In fact, Leo had been worried for nothing. There was nothing dangerous about that particular red button at all. After a few minutes of unnecessary panic, a hidden compartment flipped open on the side of the headboard next to the stereo and revealed a slightly yellowed envelope that really looked to be a year or two old at max.

Gingerly, Leo removed the envelope from its compartment and examined his new find. In the top right-hand corner where a stamp would usually go was the hammer of Hephaestus in the mouth of one of Aphrodite's doves. The name on the front was written in rough handwriting, but it clearly said '_Silena B. Aphrodite Cabin'_. With a nod of his head, he replaced it back in the compartment and pressed the red button to close it, reminding himself to take it Nico di Angelo and figure out how it was going to get to its recipient because he was pretty sure that this chic from Aphrodite cabin wasn't part of the camp any longer. With that, he went to sleep already feeling like a mailman.

* * *

When morning came, the first thing Leo did was make sure that the envelope was removed from its secret compartment before even thinking about doing anything else. As he led the rest of his cabin down to the dining pavilion for breakfast, he caught eyes with Piper. In her hands was an envelope… and Leo got the sneaking suspicion that it wasn't for Jason. In fact he was almost sure that, with the look he was getting from Piper, she didn't think that the letter in his hand was for anyone special to him either.

All throughout breakfast, both Leo and Piper were visibly trying to figure out who the other's letter belonged to. Either that or Leo was trying to stop himself from opening the letter and reading the private message inside. And the fact that Nico was watching the both of them curiously as if he already knew what they were planning just seemed to unnerve Leo. He was still a little wary about the son of Hades. But everyone's thoughts were quickly confirmed when Piper and Leo met at Nico's cabin after breakfast, letters in hand.

" What's up, guys?" Nico's voice called from behind the two.

" Um…" Piper began, not knowing how she was going to say something for once (according to Leo).

" We've got some letters we need you to post." Leo finished, taking pride in having actually practiced the night before in his sleep.

" You do know that Hermes is the god of messengers, right?" the son of Hades asked.

" Yeah, but these guys are kind of… dead."

" So? Hermes has safe passage through the underworld."

" We want to make sure that these guys get them." Piper said, finally managing to turn her thoughts into words.

" Who are they?"

" Silena and Beckendorf." The two visitors said in unison.

* * *

The days were quiet in Elysium. But that was probably because everyone was recovering from the parties from the nights before. Ever since the union of the Roman and Greek demigod camps, the deceased demigods born to Hermes, Dionysus, Apollo and whoever else was a party god always seemed to never want to stop partying. And the best thing (according to them) was that they had forever. So when the letter arrived on Silena's doorstep (she was still trying to get a house with Charlie), she thought it was just another party invitation from Castor and his friends. That is until she recognised the handwriting on the front of the envelope.

But it was the seal on the corner of the envelope that stopped Silena from immediately ripping it open and reading. She and Charlie only used that seal while they were at camp… while they were alive. Someone must have sent it from camp… but who? And how long did it take them to find the letter? This time the daughter of Aphrodite calmed herself down and opened the letter with one graceful slip of her finger. The paper inside was smudged with oil on the edges, but the smudges seemed to give it a sort of reminder of a once happy, albeit dangerous, life. The smell of the Hephaestus cabin was still strong as well. And the words she read sent her into another world.

* * *

She and Beckendorf were sitting on the beach at Camp Half-Blood. It was before the destruction of the _Princess Andromeda_, but that say was looming fast. And the cabin leaders had only just discussed who was going to go blow up the ship. The quiet that surrounded the two was an uncomfortable one that made neither one of them speak about what was to come. There was, as with any demigod, a high chance that they would not come back from the mission. And it scared everyone.

" Silena…" the son of Hephaestus began.

" You don't have to go, Charlie." The daughter of Aphrodite said, tears already choking her voice.

" No, Silena. I have to go. I'm the only one who can. The others won't be able to handle the height as easily as anyone else."

The others. The rest of the Hephaestus cabin. Silena had never seen them on the backs of a pegasi in all the time that she had been leading the pegasi flying lessons. And the only thing that came into mind as a reason was because of what had happened to their father when he was a baby. Beckendorf had been the strongest in getting on the back of Baron. And everyone knew that Baron was one of the more dominant stallions of the herd. But as Silena looked into her lover's deep brown eyes, she noticed the determination in them and knew that there was going to be no way of changing his mind.

" I'll be fine, Silena. Percy and I will be in and out of there as quickly as we can." He promised.

" Nothing is ever that simple for us, Charlie." She meant demigods in general when she said that.

" Then we'll make this one count."

But something kept nagging at Silena and she began fearing for her boyfriend's life. She wished that she didn't have to do what she was doing. Then she might have been able to protect Charlie. But the fates obviously had other thoughts for the two love birds. Because only a few weeks later Beckendorf went off on the mission and never returned.

* * *

Now, staring at the letter she now knew was the last one that Charles Beckendorf had written while he was still alive, she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face. The words kept springing up at her, telling her that he loved her and that he had to go on the mission. And for each time that she saw those words in that letter, she found herself walking out of her house and towards the beach just down the road.

Like at Camp Half-Blood, the beach had become a sort of meeting point for the couples of Elysium. And it was there that Silena found her own boyfriend watching the waves lap calmly at the sand. What she didn't expect was that in his hands was the last letter that she herself had written the night before the entire camp was due to set off for Manhattan. But what surprised her more was when Charlie stood up and wrapped his arms around her.

" You didn't have to do that, you know." He whispered in her ear.

She knew he meant when she had been forced to become Luke's spy in order to try and protect those that she loved, but she could only manage a small 'I'm sorry' as a reply.

" It doesn't matter now. What does it that you're here with me. That's all that matters."

But there was something that Silena just had to tell him. Something that has never gotten old or never died since the very first time it was uttered. " I love you."

" I know. Now, shh. We've got to figure out a way to get out of tonight's party."

" Why? Did Castor send you another invite?"

" I practically live with the guy." Yet another reason why Silena and Beckendorf wanted to get their own house with each other. " I'm not of any relation to the guy except 'friend' and I get stuck with him on the top floor apartment of the block that we're in."

" You know, I'm amazed that you haven't decked him yet."

" Tempting, but I could never do that."

" Sometimes you're too sweet for your own good."

" Only when it comes to friends… and to you."

Slowly, Beckendorf leaned down and brushed his lips over Silena's, all thoughts of both letters gone from each other's minds.

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**And there you have it, my second Beckelena one-shot. Hopefully I did okay on it. Tell me if I didn't that way I can improve in the future.**

**This was inspired by Blessid Union of Souls 'Rest of My Life'. **


	11. ApolloxArtemis: Secrets Of The Twins

**Just a little something that I thought about during the solar eclipse in Australia on the morning of 14/11/2012. This is sort of about sibling care, just shown through another's eyes. Hope you enjoy this.**

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**_Secrets of the Twins_**

**_Hermes POV:_**

_There are two moments in time where I have witnessed an amazing feat – at least when it comes to Artemis and Apollo, that is. The first time one of these moments happens is when Artemis is alone at night and thinks that no one else is around. She does have to 'protect her dignity', you know. Unfortunately for me, I had to go deliver a message to her on the same night that she had one of those moments. I did not expect Apollo to be there talking to her and otherwise comforting her over something I still don't have a clue about. The result of that chance meeting was that I ended up in bed with a broken leg and a few stitches in my side and shoulder; the message left for Iris to help me send to the feisty moon goddess._

_The second moment was more of a public matter and it was concerning Apollo. Now let me explain something here. When Apollo gets upset, my advice is to duck and cover. When he gets upset, he doesn't just get upset. He get angry… _really_ angry. My belief is that he got that trait from Father (that's Lord Zeus to you mortals). Another thing about Apollo is that he usually gets angry over something either Hera wants him to do or Father has said; more often than not, it's Hera._

_And that was exactly the case when I walked into the Throne Room for that afternoon's daily meeting. Now usually I'm one of the first there, but on this particular day I was late (blame Persephone). And, of course, I had entered during a full blown war… well, it was close to one anyway. Both Apollo and Hera were on their feet and yelling in each other's faces. No one noticed me slip into my own throne, but then again, what was to be expected?_

" _Damn it, woman! How many times do I have to tell you that you can't control my life?!" Apollo yelled._

" _What did I miss?" I asked Dionysus._

_Said god merely looked up from his wine magazine, though I had a sneaky suspicion that this time he wasn't fantasising about the wine that he wasn't allowed to have. Maybe that was because of the large image of the Joker blowing up some building. Who knew Dionysus liked Batman? I let my mind drift off the thought, though, when I noticed the glare that I was receiving. It was almost like he was contemplating using me as a test subject for some of those ideas that the Joker was probably giving him. A chill ran down my spine at the thought._

" _How can you miss anything when it's the same thing every time?" He asked in a bored voice._

_I rolled my eyes knowing all too well what the argument was about. Funny how something like that can tell you an awful lot of information. But, and I'll be honest about this, something seemed different about this particular confrontation. Father looked particularly cheesed off that day and I head from Aeolus that he had ordered a rain forecast down in Australia. I also couldn't help overhearing Athena muttering about some kind of mortal-scientific natural wonder occurring sometime soon (and, no, I wasn't eavesdropping or anything like that. I was just passing through as I trudged back to my own bed after a really long day. George and Martha are witnesses… well Martha is, George was asleep)._

_Sure enough, my thoughts were confirmed when Aphrodite squealed in pleasure. " That means that I can help organise the wedding and make sure that the bridal party is looking fantabulous!"_

_I wasn't even sure that fantabulous was a word and Athena had her thinking face on again. I didn't want to disturb her with something that she probably thought was trivial._

" _No you will not organise the wedding!" Hera roared, failing to hear the word 'help' in that sentence. Wisely, Aphrodite kept silent._

" _No one is going to be organising my wedding because I'm not going to have one!" Apollo roared back._

" _It will calm you down!" _

" _Just accept it." Hephaestus sighed._

" _Like it did you any good!" Apollo growled in reply._

" _Apollo, calm down." Artemis ordered gently._

" _I am calm!" _

Yep. Definitely calm_. I thought to myself. I honestly didn't want to get caught up in this._

_There were a few more choice words spoken from all three of them (them being Apollo, Artemis and Hera) until, finally, Hera hit another sensitive nerve… only this time it affected Artemis as well. And trust me when I say you don't want Artemis as an enemy. Father, on the other hand, seemed to be getting even more worked up about the entire situation. I guess Hera's blinding jealousy was getting on his nerves, too. Either way, I wanted to be out of there but something kept me in my seat._

_However this next attack on Hera's part was a little too low. Even I knew that Artemis and Apollo's mother was beautiful. But it just goes to show that you should never insult Leto in front of both of her children. Boy, were the colours flying then. Personally, my Drachmas were on Apollo and Artemis… though that may have been because I shared their distaste to our step-mother._

" _I should have banned all forms of land to your mother!" the slightly crazed (in my opinion) wife of Zeus bellowed, possibly forgetting that she basically already did. " I should have sent tougher opponents than Python and Tityos."_

_And that is when Apollo lost it. You see, mention of Python and Tityos is still a kind of sore spot for him. It would be for me too, if I was punished for protecting my mother who just so happened to be one of the many lovers of my father. Quick as lightning, Apollo lunged. And that is when Artemis had to drag her brother from the Throne Room, using her own body to prevent him from lashing out. Needless to say that talk of marrying Apollo off was quickly cut short. And the mortals got their solar eclipse._

_Now that you know these two little secrets that I had (unluckily) witnessed, I must leave again. I have two (slightly annoying) voices whispering in my ear about something which I hope is not important. I'll just make a quick reminder to myself to __**PUBLISH AND SEND THAT PRANK BOOK TO MY CHILDREN! **__And then I'll leave._

_Signing off,_

_Hermes._

* * *

" Hermes, what are you doing?" Apollo asked, leaning over the side of his throne to try and sneak a peek.

There was a sharp, echoing snap as Hermes quickly shut the book he was working in and sat on it, determined to hide it from view. The snakes on his caduceus shaped pen writhed in discomfort – not because one didn't like the other touching him, but because the very book which Hermes was now sitting on was also personal to the both of them. Unfortunately for the three of them, the entire council had fallen silent on Apollo's words.

" Yes, Hermes. What _are_ you doing?" Athena repeated, an obvious clip in her voice that clearly said that he was missing something important.

" Nothing." Hermes replied in a small voice.

" Yes, well…" Athena started to say before Apollo interrupted her again.

" It didn't look like nothing." The sun god protested.

" Well, it was!" Hermes growled in reply.

Things could have only gotten worse when Aphrodite squealed, " Oh, are you composing a romantic piece of love to that someone who has caught your eye?"

Everyone just looked at her for a good five minutes. Most were just dumbstruck. The rest (mainly Hermes) was plainly horrified. There really was no other way to describe it. And the only thing on Hermes mind was why Aphrodite always had to come to that sort of conclusion for just about everything. Quietly, he sent a reminder to Martha (knowing that George was bound to forget again like he did with the reminder about the prank book) telling him to make a note for this meeting for the book as well. Then he answered.

" I was doing no such thing, Aphrodite." He said.

" Then what were you doing?" Apollo pestered.

" Answer honestly. This is getting annoying." Artemis warned.

Of course, Hermes being Hermes, he didn't reply honestly. Instead, he teleported his book to the most secret secret compartment in his room and smiled. There was no way in Tartarus that he was going to let _anyone_ find his 'reflective book of secrets'.

_Next time, though, _He thought to himself,_ try not to have any spur of the moment memories._

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**So what did you think? Did I get everyone in character? Does it need to be better? Do I need to get a life? **

**...Maybe ignore that last question...**

**Anyway... please tell me what you think about it. Meanwhile, I go nurse a couple of sunburns I got today at an excursion to the zoo.**


	12. Percabeth: Right Here Waiting

**Okay. I know this has been a little slow in updating (Okay, it was way too slowQQ) I'M SORRY LITTLE WONDERS FANS! I hope that this can stop you from storming down my house with torches and pitchforks... and ogres... and minotaurs... and maticores... and drakons... and... and... the gods themselves. I know it's a lot shorter than the others, but it's what I was able to come up with while waiting to get picked up from school and in pain.**

** Anyway, I hope you all like this.**

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_**Right Here Waiting**_

He was lost and he was alone.

Somewhere, out there, was the girl that seemed to haunt Percy's dreams each night. Annabeth. Ask him anything about her and all he would be able to tell you was her name and that he was somehow connected to her. Just the thought of her kept him up at night, but not in a bad way. One thing Percy was sure about was that he would kill himself if it meant protecting her… he would dive into the depths of Tartarus if it meant saving her.

In fact there was a whole part of him that was missing and this Annabeth person was the key to finding out who he once was. This camp, Camp Jupiter, was good, but it was just too strict. Everyone here needed to learn to loosen up a little bit, especially that teddy bear murderer who seems to be glued to that statue of the king of the gods (one day he will avenge the death of his panda pillow pet).

Being in Camp Jupiter was almost draining the fun right out of him, if he still had any fun left after what that wolf drilled into him. No. That's not right. Of course he still has fun inside of him. He's Percy Jackson. He's the son of… someone. And someone fun at that too. Maybe that Annabeth person would be able to remind him of who he is and what his life was missing. Before he knew it, Percy had fallen asleep.

She was in his dreams again. This time she was in a grey cabin and she was crying. There was another girl with her, one with brown hair. But he didn't know who this girl was or what Annabeth was crying over. It was a shock to him, her crying, and he wanted to find out exactly what was wrong because something was telling him that Annabeth rarely cried and when she did, whatever she was crying about was really bad. Either that or something as bad as the world ending was going to be a result of her crying. In any case, the tears were interrupted slightly by a blond haired boy entering the cabin and the dream was ended.

Percy woke with a shock. Somewhere deep down he had a feeling that Annabeth was crying over him. Somehow he recognised the cabin as being a part of his true home. It was the Athen… Athe... Ath… Ath… the name was gone and so too was the memory.

The only thing that was left was Annabeth.

He was back where he had started. In frustration he screamed out and succeeded in waking up a few members of the Fifth Cohort. Others merely turned in their sleep. Those that were woken up grumbled at the disturbance for a few seconds, a minute at max. All except one.

" Percy? Is everything okay?" Frank called, having been woken up himself.

" Yeah." Percy lied.

He could only thank the gods that it was still night-time and therefore still dark. The truth was, however, and it was evident in the way that he had spoken, everything was not alright. Frank gave a half asleep and half mumbled answer before his bunk creaked slightly as he got comfortable once more. That was another thing about Camp Jupiter, the crowds. Percy was almost certain that back at home he was never crowded to this extent. With a sigh, Percy turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, his mind empty save for three small yet extremely heavy thoughts.

He was lost and he was alone.

But one thing he did know was that he would spend forever, if he had to, waiting for Annabeth… the one person that would help him remember.

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**Well? Are you guys still mad at me? Please don't be. The next one I'm planning is a HazelxNico brother/sister one-shot. While you wait for that (and hopefully not too long) I would love to know what you think of this chapter.**


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